Draft mechanism



sept. 15. 1925. 1,553,580l

`o. e. wALTEas DRAFT MEOHANISM Filed July 27, 1923 I 14 ma mum Jn wanton una! nu* Patented Sept. 15, 1292.5,

fsfTfAfrfEs e-Peazleewr@eee-ICE.

: omN af wetness,' eoFfleetiNemfisterS CHINEfceeoreomene, mamen, .A1 @Chroma-imm ee eeuwen.

meer; Meenemellr- Mechanism, .et uhizeh fthe? fellewiheie e ,speieifeat-eh f 1; The preeeht-xihaehteh. relates l .te 'draft 10. .meehanisrrtandhee .ferien :object te'. provide 1animproredhleehansmOfith@ type. for .use ..hetween neeeheulheed Gr. fiether maehnee, .,eIlCl.. e.' elfe-ft.. animal.. e. traetprtidepenelent .,upcntheeendtonspfilse' vAnother object ofthe' inuentionfshto pro- ,.Ydei a .draft meehahsm @f lthefeharaeterf with. means for .Suppe ngthe weight pf. the .-meehansm.. n the Yeheleli11- 1-S1ieh..mae11ef 'that .the-.Weghtstaken .111e @tall times.. and 201; thefdraft; meehehiem slireefte be. s w1.1 11g veh'eleprf the.' .front .wheelsithereef- The inventionfur'tlierl ^p ryide-s- 'a y. draft .meehansm ..Whi.eh .Prerilee .f.a; i.dir eet. eeu- .Plhg .between -the-Lemme. lof. draftendfthe .leef drewhahelwheh. eleelprerldee.. all; .iedependentfcenneetion hetweenithe, guide wheels Aof gthe 1`Vehicle or rnahiine ,and "thej source i ofldrafty .fsoas` Ito. cause fthe yehicle or'wirnap Chine heilig.. drawn tolgfellowphathe .path ofthemeaneofpdraft.

' .The nrentennstlli.furtherprcyides a f Substantially .Semeireuler-...tlaelwey ...ten'the orwardend. of. a. .vehicle .01'. maehineand a ..the..maehneladhailing,.en ahhfrietpnde- .vee adapted te. westerse. .Lthetraekvvay and take. up the weightpfthe draftmeehaniem'- have a pair `of vertically spaced apart center' barsglQ. i The bals-12"engageacrossjfhe upper and" lower sides of tlefross bracejll and may be secured thereto loyaL boltlfl passing throughthe ,bars and'thebrace. A

"The traine 10 is provided atts'un'der side which is 'archedVVV downwardly 'fromj lthee-for- Ywhich providedgwith'la vcross bracelfll i gnear` their :forwardV Iends-'and ,which may f Waraena'spf the Side; barrel@ .and which has an` farm p t15 extending rearwardly-and l securednpon vthe b'oltfl?) -,tel reinforcethe iA bracket 1 4. ',PVoted Ltothe. lower end of the bracket 14; isanupwafdly arched aXle support llsecured at'its, ends to -the .aile 17 upon whichthe'forward wheels 18 ofthe/vehicle .'Qlllllne are mounted f Theaxle support 16j iswpsecuredfby a -hpl`t--19- tothe bracket whichvseryesfas the. pivot-forY the axlerv 17. The axle hl? Visf.attaehedefto" the ends'ot the axlejsupportjl .straps QO/which engage acrossftheyuppel?face'of the spring v16 and Vrecheiye "the clamping. bolts' 2l therethrough gljforfllbnding the aide t the aXle'- support spring. The forward endsofthe sti 20 40 Yithjhef foregoingxand othenJobje-ctsf.inrare rolled ,.overcr otherwise sutahlyfpro'- .view v, the. nnention' will..he.@1n9re.tu1.1y idey scribed hereinafter;A and will"benlnoifel parfteularly.pointed.V out; in ,the .claires appended A. hereto.` 4.5

e vrefert .l.ke. 1f eeeeeipeedheparts through- ...o-utjthe gsevenalmvews. l v ultieme lie. e.' @elementary .rertcallseeten tallehthrough theiorward. end feta'- vehicle ln.. the?. drawings, wheremlpllke .syrnbols f. aided with eyes. teleeere j the Opposite :endsv'of j hin-ge' .rodgfthe rod 23 extending' I tion but prefeably; tapers* toinwardly'l from are. elle" @miiejpfevieedfeieh e "fla mene ably clamped to the plate 24 by bolts 26 or the like. This arrangement is shown in Figures 1 and 2. The tongue 25 may thus be utilized for swinging the axle 17 to turn the vehicle or machine 10 and also for holding the axle 17 in its straight line position. The forward end of the plate 24 is rovided with a downwardly inclined lip 2'? having an aperture 28 therethrough for a purpose which'will hereinafter appear.

The forward ends of the center bars 12 of the frame project beyond the cross brace 11 and receive therebetween a draft bar 29 which is pivotally connected between the bars 12 by a bolt 30, the bolts passing vertically through the center and draft bars.

rlhe draft bar 29 extends forwardly beyond ,the machine and is provided with an upwardly spaced or oif set strap 31 at its outerA end providing a recess or clevis at the forward end of the draft bar to which may be attachedl the forward ydraft mechanism..

'Ihe'strap` 31' is provided-with a bolt 32 which extends downwardly through the strap and through the forward end of the draft bar 29. Thisbolt 32 is of .sufficientv length to also pass at its lower end Ydownwardly through the aperture 23 in the lip 27 v of the guide plate 24E-so that when the tongue 25 is removedfr'om the draft plate as shown in Figure 3, the draft plate maybe attached tothe draft bar 29 and swung therewith when the wagon or other vehicle is turned.. v 'f Y Forl the purpose of supporting the Vdraft bar 29 in its horizontal position, a substantially circular track 33 is mounted upon the `.forward end of they frame 10 and extendsv horizontally forward therefrom'andV curves 'Ihe draft bar from one side to the other. 29 carries an-upwardly extending stud 34 located immediately forwardly of the. track 33 `and which is bent to overhang the track and provided with a roller 35 adapted to til'averseV the track and support the draft bar therefrom.k It is'thus seen that when the draft bar 29 is swung about its pivot 30 the draft bar and parts connected thereto are supported by the stud 3l and roller 35 from the track 33. The draft bar and its parts have thus free and unobstructed swinging 1 movement to turn the vehicle onY a short radius in either-direction and thedraft mechanism is at allY times supported from the frame.y

f5 As shown-in' Figures 1 and 2, the draft mechanism V.may kbe adjusted for j useV with f draft animals, *and in such case across bar '36 ispositioned between the strap 31 and Y -the draft bar 29 pivoted therebetween upon thebolt-I32. The bar 36 carries links 37 at its upper ends to which are connected double trees 38 carrying single trees 39. Of course anyk other lsuitable draft means may be used for .coupling one or Vmore Vdraft animals to nary manner for guiding the vehicle to follow the general path of the draft animals.

As shown in Figure 3, when it is desired to use the draft mechanism in connection with a tractor or the like, the tongue 25 is removed from the guide plate 2l and the latter is secured by the bolt 32 beneath the forward end of the draft bar 29. In this instance a coupling bar 40 is placed upon the bolt 32 between the strap 31 and the draft bar 29. The coupling bar 4:0 may be of any suitable length and character for attachment Vto a tractor or the like. When the tractor Vturns in either direction the draft bar 29 is swung therewith upon its pivot 30 and the guide plate k24 is swung therewith so as to turn the axle 17 and change the direction of travel of the lvehicle or machine.

p While there has been shown and described a particular-construction of vehicle or machine, it is understood that the draft mechanism of this invention may be applied to all devices, or machines, wagons or other devices or objects which are to be drawn either by draft animals or by tractors or otherl powerY contained vehiclesor other source of draft.

I do'not wish tobe restricted-to the size,

form, and proportions of the various parts, and obviously changes could be made in the construction herein described without departingV from the spirit of the invention, it

being onlynecessary that such changes fall withinthe scope of the-appended claims.

What is claimed is: v Y

1. A draft mechanism for vvehicles and the like comprising a draft bar'adapted for pivotally mounting upon the frame of avehicle, means for connecting a sourceof draft tothe forward endl of the draft bar, means forV supporting the draft bar in a substantiallyhorizontal position from the frame of Vthe vehicle, a pivoted axle mounted beneath the'forward end of the vehicle frame, a guide plate mounted on the axle andrprojecting forwardly; therefrom, said guide plate having a tongue seat for r receiving the inner end of a tonguel thereon toguidethe axle byY draft animals and said plate having a connecting portion adapted to engage said means forcoupling a source of draft to Ythe' draft bar for swinging the guide plate with the draft bar to guide the vehicle from a4 tractor. Y 1

2. A draft mechanism for vehicles andthe like comprising afdraft bar, means for pivotally connecting thedraft bar to the frame ofthe vehicle, means Aforrhorizontally supporting the bar in all Yadjusted positions thereof from the frame ofthe vehicle, a

coupling bolt carried upon the forward end y of the draft bar for connecting animal and for engagement with said coupling bolt tractor draft means to the draft bar, a guide upon the removal of said tongue for guiding plate pivoted upon the forward axle of the the vehicle by the swinging of the draft bar 10 vehicle and having means for attachment to in either direction.

` a vehicle tonguel for swinging the plate by In testimony whereof, I have affixed my draft animals to guide the vehicle, said signature. guide pla-te also having a connecting device ODIN B. WALTERS. 

